“It should be just below this spot.”
Li Nian’er came to the edge of a cliff. The cliff was unfathomably deep. Looking down with the naked eye, one could see only endless darkness.
A chill ran up her spine.
“To be exact, it’s right beneath this spot.”
Jiang Li stood about ten meters away from Li Nian’er. Under his Divine Sense, everything beneath the cliff was as clear as day.
“I’ll take you down—” Before Jiang Li could even finish, the Red Dust Fairy had already taken a crouching stance, like preparing for a standing long jump—and jumped straight down without hesitation.
“Red Sister, she…”
Li Nian’er exclaimed.
“She’s just missing a string in her brain, but she’s strong—don’t worry about her.”
Red Dust Fairy, of course, was fine. Even if she didn’t use her Immortal Power, she was still a genuine Immortal with an Immortal Body. And naturally, an Immortal wouldn’t die just from falling off a cliff.
As Jiang Li expected, after the Red Dust Fairy leapt down, she didn’t fall all the way to the bottom but landed safely on a stone platform that jutted out halfway down the cliff. Within that platform was a cave—partly natural, but clearly refined by human hand. Li Nian’er stepped onto air and pressed downward with her foot.
The pressure compressed the air to an extreme limit, letting her step down one layer at a time through the empty air until she reached the cliffside platform.
“So this is the tomb of that Spirit Transformation Cultivator?”
After taking a few steps forward, Li Nian’er suddenly felt herself touch an invisible barrier. A voice echoed in her ear.
“I am the Myriad Beasts True Person. I was poisoned by villains and met my end. I cannot bear to see the wondrous arts I cultivated in my lifetime fade into oblivion. Thus, I left behind this place. Whoever finds it must be fated with me. If you are under thirty and have formed a Golden Core, you may enter my Secret Realm, undergo the trials, and receive my inheritance. Those who force their way in shall face the Scourge of Burning Flames.”
Next to the barrier lay several charred skeletons—obviously those who weren’t qualified to enter and had foolishly tried to break in by force. Under thirty and at the Core Formation Stage—Li Nian’er clearly met this condition. She walked through and entered the Secret Realm.
Jiang Li and Red Dust Fairy did not meet the requirement, but neither of them paid much heed to Myriad Beasts True Person’s warning. If a mere Spirit Transformation cultivator could command flames capable of burning even True Immortals or Mahayana experts, that would truly be worth a look.
As expected, the moment Jiang Li forced his way in, scorching flames erupted around him, searing the air. Yawning lazily, Jiang Li walked right through them. Those flames couldn’t even singe the edge of his robe.
The same went for Red Dust Fairy.
“Looks like we’re not the first ones here.”
Inside the Secret Realm, Jiang Li saw several others already undergoing Myriad Beasts True Person’s trials. The Poison Young Master and his group were in miserable shape. Originally dressed in fine silks woven from Heavenly Silkworm threads and accustomed to staying in Heaven-Class rooms, the stylish Poison Young Master now looked like a beggar.
His skin—pale to the point of sickness—was streaked with dark veins pulsing beneath, an obvious mark of poison cultivation. At such a young age, to have achieved this level likely meant he was walking the path toward the Ten Thousand Poisons Physique. The internal space of the Secret Realm was vast, filled with thick jungle.
Beasts darted between the trees from time to time. Their ranks were quite high, yet none had awakened spiritual intelligence. For demonic beasts, awakening their intelligence without outside aid was exceedingly difficult.
The Spirit Transformation Stage marked a critical watershed for beasts. Before that stage, they lived in confusion, acting on instinct. But once they reached Spirit Transformation, they experienced a sudden illumination—like a blind man suddenly seeing light.
Their perception of the world became clear and sharp; they gained understanding, speech, and could learn the Art of Transformation. They would no longer act by instinct but by thought. Yet few demonic beasts ever reached Spirit Transformation.
Long ago, the first Empress Baize of the Baize Imperial Dynasty had fathomed a method to awaken beast intelligence prematurely. Relying on that technique, she established her dynasty. The beasts here, though, had lived within this Secret Realm since birth.
Naturally, none had been awakened by the Baize method. They were of the most primitive kind, living purely by instinct. Under Jiang Li’s Divine Sense, he detected quite a number of Nascent Soul-level beasts.
To a Golden Core cultivator, such a presence was death itself. Unintelligent Nascent Soul beasts still had one thing—instinct. They could sense danger and always avoided beings that threatened them, hunting only harmless prey.
Among Jiang Li’s group of three, even the weakest had reached the Nascent Soul Stage. To those beasts, they were walking danger. But Poison Young Master’s group—seven in all, with the strongest only at the Golden Core Stage—were nothing but prey in those beasts’ eyes.
“My trials consist of three tests,” the remnant voice of Myriad Beasts True Person echoed faintly.
“For each trial passed, you shall receive a key. Possess all three and you may open the gate at the deepest part of the Secret Realm, wherein lies both my tomb and my inheritance.”
“The first test is to examine your affinity with demonic beasts. Requirement: within half an incense’s time, there must be at least thirty beasts of Foundation Establishment level or higher within one hundred meters of you, and none must attack you.”
“Seems pretty simple,” Li Nian’er said eagerly, ready to start gathering beasts.
She believed her affinity with them was strong. She wandered into the forest and tried to approach a small rabbit—but she had forgotten she wasn’t wearing the jade pendant her mother had given her. The Dragon Might within her body was a terrifying pressure for beasts.
Though she had no ill intent, just the sight of her small dragon horns and the faint trace of pure dragon blood sent the rabbit fleeing in terror. Li Nian’er still didn’t realize she had forgotten the jade pendant. She thought something else had startled the creatures.
But after a few more tries, each with the same result—even Nascent Soul beasts ran at the sight of her—she began to fume. Among beasts, lineage meant everything. The dragon race stood at the very peak of the hierarchy.
Even if these beasts had decent cultivation, their bloodlines were far inferior. Confronted with Li Nian’er, who carried dragon blood, their only instinct was to turn tail and run. Furious, Li Nian’er manifested her Dharma Body—a fifty-zhang tall hazy silhouette with blurred features and dozens of massive arms.
Those arms reached out to grab the weaker beasts. If they dared resist, she’d just beat them—beat them until they were too scared to attack! Did they really think Grandma Li was easy to bully?!
Red Dust Fairy tried as well. These Nascent Soul beasts that could crush boulders with a paw were, to her, no different from harmless kittens. She liked small animals, and for some reason, small animals liked her even more.
She crouched down, slipped off one of her black silk gloves, exposing a bit of her skin. At once, the beasts all around sensed her irresistible charm. From all directions, they came running, crowding around her like devoted followers.
“See? That was simple.”
Red Dust Fairy smiled, gently stroking the head of a small tiger. The soft fur felt wonderful beneath her fingers.
“It really is simple.”
Jiang Li nodded. Then he simply flew straight to the far end of the Secret Realm, found the stone door with the three keyholes—and smashed it open with a single punch. Behind the shattered door lay the Myriad Beasts True Person’s tomb and his inheritance.
(End of Chapter)